Imagine if 40 percent of the people that viewed a TV commercial for a store ended up visiting that store or its website. We’d all be too busy shopping to get anything done. But that’s the surprising figure that Ashley Swartz, founder of advertising technology collective Furious Minds, mentions in the video below (used with permission of Beet.tv[1]). Except Swartz isn’t talking about TV commercials: she’s talking about online ecommerce videos. The statistic comes form a story on Business 2 Community[2], and it shows that online viewers are quick to shop for and buy the products they see online.

In her video, Swartz takes a post-Black Friday/Cyber Monday look at what online video means for product sales. Online shopping was up this year, she says, although the average purchase amount was down. That shows that people are making better educated purchases, she says, and are getting more information to find the best deal.

Video has the ability to compress the buying cycle, since shoppers view product videos on their mobile devices while they’re out at the stores. It can also support all parts of the consumer experience, from viewing demonstrations pre-purchase to getting customer support afterward. Look at where and why your viewers will watch your videos, then decide what content to create.

For an industry insider’s look at how online video is changing the shopping experience, watch the video below.